The Evil Beneath Your Feet

Date: 2022-06-19

Audience: Grass Valley Corps ONLINE

Title: The Evil Beneath Your Feet

Text: Matthew 14:23-38

Proposition: Jesus is revealed as divine

Purpose: Stop treating him like he’s magic

Grace and peace to you!

Captain Roger – TSA-Grass Valley – Online worship is study time.

The time each week we come together to spend a few minutes learning something about what the Bible has to say, why we might care, and what – if anything – we should do about it.

This week: Matthew, chapter 14, looking at a story that everyone knows, some people believe, and most people completely miss the story of what’s really going on and why it might be important.

I say that everyone knows the story – should say everyone knows the BEGINNING of the story. I suspect many Christians and even many preachers couldn’t say that they KNOW the second part.

You find Matthew 14 in your Bibles while I tell you a different story.

In ancient days, water was said to have mysterious properties.

It was known to be a blessing, lakes and seas providing fish to eat and faster travel than on land. It could be peaceful to sit and watch the waves. It could, in places, provide water to drink and to irrigate your crops.

But it could also make you ill. It could swell the banks of rivers until they burst, great floods leveling everything downstream, sometimes for miles.

In some waters, people at the fish, but in others it seemed that fish ate the people! And no one could spend more than a few minutes in the water before needing to come up for air, which made it an eerie and unknown world even more remote than the most distant land.

When the Canaanites had ruled the lands which would become Northern Israel, Baal, their god of storms, was said to live on the lake which would become known as the Sea of Galilee. He would stand in its waters and battle other gods, using the wind, lightning, and waves at his command to lash at them and defeat them, sending them into the depths as a gateway to the underworld.

For sailors, there was a fear of drowning. A belief had risen up which said souls lost in the seas would remain trapped there until the end of time, separated from the rest of their kind. Waters were a place of chaos – uncontrollable, unpredictable. Some said that God had imprisoned rebellious angels in the depths, deep in the abyss, and that they were trapped there, waiting for humans to come within reach so they could be pulled down to their doom or so that they could be entered and possessed, perhaps as a way to escape their prison for a time.

When Jesus cast demons from one possessed man, they begged to be permitted to enter a herd of pigs instead of being cast into the abyss and Jesus allowed it, but the pigs rushed immediately into the sea, drowning themselves and, presumably, returning the spirit creatures to their watery prison.

Alongside the Sea of Galilee, we have seen Jesus preach and teach. Some of his followers were fishermen to whom this sea was a second home. We don’t know if they had any superstitions or haunting beliefs about the abyss they sailed on most every day, but we do know they had a healthy respect for its power.

In Matthew 14, leading up to verse 22, we saw that Jesus had some of his people sail him across the lake to escape the crowds, but the crowds had followed, racing around the lake, emptying village after village on their way as others came to see this wilderness preacher who had captivated the world with his teaching and miracles of healing. And Jesus had taken pity on them and taught them and healed their sick and fed them a miraculously large meal using nothing but a handful of dinner rolls and fish jerky.

Now that they have eaten, everyone having had his fill, Jesus had his disciples gather up the leftovers and then this, from Matthew 14:22:

22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.[1]

So they sailed off, heading for the far side of the lake, while Jesus told people to go home. Where did he go?

23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. [2]

Jesus finally got the alone time he had been looking for that morning – space away from the crowds. And, for him, that means time with God, praying, listening…

When he was done, it was late. Well past midnight. It was dark, much of the night gone by, and the boat his disciples had crowded into was invisible in the clouds and waves which had been blown in by a strong and choppy wind dancing across the lake like an evil storm god.

We’re told that:

25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.[3]

Which is, of course, not the sort of thing one expects to hear. But, where Jesus is concerned, we’ve started to get used to hearing things that seem crazy, haven’t we?

I wonder what that was like? Was he just walking, like you would walk across the surface of a shallow puddle or a wet sidewalk? Or was it more like skating, with those long, sweeping slides on each foot? Was it faster than a normal stroll? Slower? However, it must have taken some time. The boat was miles out, halfway across or more, sailing into a headwind, and the Greek describes it literally as the boat was being tortured by the waves. Jesus is walking towards them during the Fourth Watch, that period between 3 and 6 am when everything is shifting shadows that make the darkness look deeper and more ominous even though dawn is just over the horizon. But the men in the boat wouldn’t have expected that, would they? They left Jesus behind, thinking he would take another boat or perhaps walk around the lake and catch up to them later. The men sailing this vessel knew the lake and its tricks, even in the dark. They knew how to tack into the wind, to work their way slowly into it, making ground yard by grueling yard as they fought to keep moving forward while the icy blow pushed them back and the waves of the abyss tried to climb over their bow and drown them or at least beat them into submission, forcing them to retreat.

They probably kept looking to the horizon, hoping to see some sign of dawn breaking. A light on the horizon to give them something to see other than moving blobs of shapeless night. Something that would let them know that the sun would come up and warm the air and change the patterns of the wind that was trying to defeat them.

But instead of the rising sun, all they could make out was a twist of black shadow to the east. It could have been a wave, but was fixed a ways off from the boat to the east.

The next series of waves broke over them, slapping them hard against the surface of the water, making them squeeze their eyes shut to clear water from them before blinking open again. But there, centered to the east, that shadow was still there, closer now, seeming somehow to be more than just some debris .

As the sky lightened imperceptibly and the sailors braced themselves/s for the next spray of water and wind.

This time, too, that shape was nearer: Each wave which broke over them seemed to bring it closer, a spot of darkness on a shadow wrapped in waves which, as it neared, began to look like it was something and not the nothing it should be, but what?

As it grew nearer, visible and yet not able to be seen, the stories of the sea began to poke in through their tired minds. Souls trapped in the abyss. Evil night spirits which came, mean and malignant, to wreak havoc on mortal lives.

Another wave and the wind tried to blow the breath from their bodies as the shadow grew again, almost stalking towards them. It almost seemed human-like in form, not quite visible, not quite invisible… What could it be?

And in the darkness, through their exhaustion and fear, a single thought came to them – one that could not possibly be true and yet one which crept into their souls and blew up as big as the sky. It’s a man, no, a monster of some kind, no it’s crossing the surface of the lake, as sure and as steady as death it was trying to get to them, moving faster than they could, almost as if it was something intangible or unstoppable. Something like…

And Matthew tells us the thought that cut into their hearts as they saw this dark shape coming closer:

26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. [4]

Which was a stupid thing to say, because it could not be a ghost. They had been taught by uncounted generations of stories that ghosts could not cross certain barriers, one of which was moving water like a river or a sea. Ghosts sank when they tried to enter even shallow waters; sank and disappeared, destroyed, drowned no longer a threat.

A ghost? Absurd!

But their fear was real and their thinking confused and they were frightened out of their minds.

And a voice came to them across the waters and the waves, one that could not be there, could not be, but which spoke reassurance to them:

27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” [5]

“It is I?” That’s a good translation, rendered into a plain English sentence. But what he really said was simply, “I am.” And in that simple statement there is a whole world of meaning bound up for them to hear and for us to understand, but at the moment there was something else happening which wrenched their attention away from the words to another thing entirely.

28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” [6]

Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?

But disciples were to be like their masters, weren’t they? And they had seen Jesus teach and he had sent them to teach. They had seen him heal people with a touch and a prayer, and he had sent them to do the same.

They has seem him command supernatural beings to come out of their human hosts, to release their captive bodies and spirits, and Jesus had sent them to do the same, AND THEY HAD!

Lord, Peter said, if that’s really you out there, standing on the waves, striding across the surface of the abyss without sinking, tell me to do that too! I want to do that!

29 “Come,” [Jesus] said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.[7]

We don’t know how far he got. We don’t know what it was that got in his head. It’s hard enough to understand what would make him get out of the boat in the first place! None of the others jumped up and asked to go with him! We just know that Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water towards Jesus.

Until something happened. Something went wrong. The wind blew harder and the waves grew bigger and Peter… Peter…

He began to be afraid.

30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” [8]

All my life I’ve heard this taught as if it was a rebuke. I was told, “Peter lost faith in Jesus. He took his eyes off the master and so couldn’t go forward any more. Peter doubted, and doubt is a great sin!” And all of those things are wrong and none of those things is happening here.

Peter looked at Jesus walking on the water and he had such great faith that he asked to do the same and got out of the boat and walked on the water too.

Whatever it is that disrupted his focus, it wasn’t that he had begun to doubt the power of Jesus. If anything, his belief in Jesus grew as Peter took step after step on the surface of the water. How could it do anything else? And I can prove it! In fact, you’ve already seen it, but you’ve been so conditioned to believe that Peter somehow began to do something which would have seemed impossible, just as Master Jesus told him he could, that you’re willing to believe that faced with this great proof of the power and person of Jesus, Peter somehow lost faith.

Like Wiley Coyote walking off a cliff, then noticing he was standing on nothing, then falling, somehow Peter suddenly realized he was on top of the water, so he sank, because Jesus couldn’t have helped him do that? No, that’s not what’s happening here. If that was true, if Peter lost faith in Jesus, he might have cried out, “I’m drowning!” or “It’s a trick!” or just desperately began to fight his way back towards the boat, swimming over and through the waves towards the safety of the little craft.

But he didn’t do any of those things.

What did he do?

He called out, “Lord! Save me!”

It’s the best cry for any of us to make when we are struggling and we need help, but it isn’t a cry we can make when we have no faith in Jesus.

Peter called out BECAUSE he trusted Jesus could help him, not because he DOUBTED Jesus could. You know who he doubted?

Himself.

We’ve all felt this at times, haven’t we?

We say, “Yes, Lord, I will go where you send me!” and we do, only to find ourselves overwhelmed by where we end up. There’s too much to do. There are too many obstacles. There are too many distractions or problems or unexpected challenges. The waves are so big and the wind is so strong and we are swamped until we remember to call out, “Lord, save me!”

A cry of faith in God.

What overwhelmed us? What did we forget?

We forgot that God when God tells us we can do something, it is because we can. He will guide us and aid us as we need it when we ask, but when he gives us a task or enables us to do a thing he tells us we can do, he provides for us to do it.

We get all hung up on crying out, “Jesus, take the wheel!” when what he really wants, just like any loving parent with their growing, maturing child, is to have us learn how to drive.

So get out of the boat and start walking, because Jesus says you can. Don’t’ start and then say, “But I can’t really do this.” If you couldn’t, he wouldn’t tell you that you can. Go ahead, cry out for him to save you – it’s an honest cry and he will, but why are you doubting yourself when Jesus believes in you?

Notice that Jesus caught Peter, but didn’t carry him to the boat. They walked there together.

Hey, Jesus? Don’t take the wheel but come for a ride with me!

32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” [9]

Jesus got in the boat. Peter got in the boat. And the people in the boat realized something.

Do you remember a few chapters back when they were sailing across this lake and there was a huge storm and Jesus was sleeping and everyone freaked out as said, “Don’t you care we’re all about to die?” and Jesus got up and told the wind and waves to “Be still” and they were?

Do you remember what these men said then? (Mt 8:27)

27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” [10]

They didn’t know what to do with what they had seen.

But now, with all they’ve seen, the things they have experienced, and this final proof, they have a strong realization: Jesus isn’t a normal person!

It may have been walking on water that clued them in. There are scripture verses about this kind of thing.

Job, talking about Almighty God, says:

8 He alone stretches out the heavens

and treads on the waves of the sea. [11]

And in Psalm 77, crying out to God, the author says

19 Your path led through the sea,

your way through the mighty waters,

though your footprints were not seen. [12]

God not only walks on water, but he doesn’t even leave footprints while he does it!

I have no idea why that’s what struck the poet, because I don’t think I’d have even thought to check for footprints.

So, Jesus, walking on water in this way, empowering Peter to do the same, has demonstrated that he is Divinity, not mortal but God or, as they say, a Son of God – something born of Divinity.

Which they should have known because when he first cried out to them not to be afraid he identified himself as “I am,” the name of God. We’ve talked about that before and will again, but I want you to see this story the way Matthew is presenting it:

He wants us to understand that these disciples? The key followers of Jesus? They’re idiots. They still aren’t really getting it.

It’s utterly impossible, in their minds, for a ghost to walk out on water, but when they see Jesus walking on the water they are ready to believe something absurd and impossible rather than accept that Jesus is doing something reserved for Divinity to do. That Jesus must actually be exactly who and what he’s been telling them he is all along.

It takes the whole event, the walking, the Peter thing, the getting in the boat and having the wind go still, for them to reach an emotional point where they are so overcome they can only say, “Truly you are the Son of God!” and worship him.

Do they really understand this?

Well… This is kind of the point at which the door has cracked open and the light is beginning to come in, but we’ll have to see how much of this is true belief and how much is just an emotional response.

There’s one more piece to this story, though.

34 When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him 36 and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed. [13]

See, the men in the boat may have begun to realize that Jesus is Divine, but the people on the shore are still thinking that he’s just magic.

They want to touch the good luck charm and go away, rewarded.

When the woman who had been bleeding for years snuck up and touched Jesus to be healed, he stopped and made sure she understood that it wasn’t touching him that healed her – it was her trust in him to be able to heal her. But here we have people who aren’t here because they trust him, but because they want to see and benefit from the magic. They aren’t here to follow or learn or spend enough time with Jesus to learn to be like him. They’re just looking for that hit, that touch, that fix-a-rama which puts them right so they can go away and go on with their lives.

They called their neighbors to come and be healed instead of calling them to come and take part in the Kingdom, to come and learn, to come and be reconciled, or even to come and be forgiven.

Where the first part of this story should leave us wondering why it is so hard for the disciples with Jesus to actually trust that he is who and what he says, this part should leave us sad that the people Jesus has been here to help, the very ones who should have recognized him and entered the Kingdom as his agents working to bring others in, have instead decided that he’s some kind of vending machine for healing. Insert your coin, pull the lever, watch your leprosy clear from your skin!

Stop treating Jesus like he’s magic.

He’s not your get out of Hell free card.

He’s not the great ticket seller handing out tickets to heaven.

He’s Divine – wholly God – and he is calling us to declare our allegiance to the Kingdom of God and to live as his trusted agents, taking assignments and completing them, knowing that he believes in us.

I’ll say it again: Get out of the boat. Focus on what Jesus asks you to do, and do it. If you get overwhelmed, cry out to the LORD for help – that’s okay. But know that you can do it, whatever it is, because God says you can. And remember, even when the waves block your view, he’s still right there, doing it with you.

I’m giving you homework today. Because you can do this!

Give your all to the cause of Jesus today. Not just your lip service. Not just your faith that he’ll do whatever magic. Actually look to him for instructions and direction and then GO and DO what he gives you to do.

You can start this by crying out, LORD, help me! But you need to listen to his instructions then and do what he asks you to do.

There’s always something.

If you don’t have something come to you, then go to him. Lord, I know you’re there. Tell me to come to you. Help me to know where I should go. I want to get out of the boat.

Take that dedication, that desire to do God’s will, and put it into action. Disciples DO what their Master demonstrates. We need to live out the actions of Jesus to draw people into he Kingdom. How can you heal the sick? How can you uplift the oppressed? How can you help a refugee or feed the hungry or clothe those in need or visit those in prison? How can you reach the unreachable or touch the untouchable or bring the outcast back into the fold?

How can you show grace, God’s grace which he has poured out in your life, how you can you show that to someone else?

Think of one thing you can do this week and write it down.

Right now, actually, physically put that one thing in writing.

No changing! Write down that first thing that crossed your mind.

Now let’s pray, then go and do the thing you wrote down.

God, save us.

Save us from indecision and fear. Save us from the waves which threaten to sweep over us and wash us away. Save us from ourselves and from our enemies so that we can reach others in the name of Jesus. Remind us that you believe in us so we have nothing to doubt and nothing to fear.

If anyone here doesn’t have a thing that they have written down to do, help them to recognize what you are asking so that they can write it down and do it. Teach us to be your hands in this world, not just bystanders.

We ask this in the name of Jesus, the Divine, who has saved us to serve. Amen.

Three announcements this week!

Sunday, July 3 – Soldier’s meeting (all welcome) to talk about the coming year for the Grass Valley Corps!

Sunday, July 10, and most every Sunday for the next twelve weeks: Sandwiches and Salvationism soldier classes after church.

Wednesday, August 3, through Friday, Aug 5: VBS for everyone, 5-7 pm each of the three nights. Dinner, activities, and Jesus.

[1] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mt 14:22. [2] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mt 14:23–24. [3] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mt 14:25. [4] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mt 14:26. [5] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mt 14:27. [6] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mt 14:28. [7] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mt 14:29. [8] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mt 14:30–31. [9] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mt 14:32–33. [10] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mt 8:27. [11] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Job 9:8. [12] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Ps 77:19. [13] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mt 14:34–36.